Weaver Leather Setter for Machined Lace Hooks

General
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Thanks to a tip, I was able to reach out to Weaver Leather supply and order a press die for setting machined brass lace hooks like Trendware’s #205, also sold by Weaver and formerly Ohio Travel Bag as C-1567. These are the lace hooks used on Pacific Northwest logging and hiking boots, which I’ve also seen on other outdoor boots, like Danner Lites.

Here are two picks of a lacquered brass Trendware #205 mounted up:

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The fit is indeed quite secure.

Weaver’s item number for the tool is 65-6176. My price was $48.00.

The item wasn’t on the website, so customer service asked me to call the order in. The call-in process was easy enough. They were able to look up my online account and use addresses entered there.

The set includes only the bottom set or anvil, no top set. The mounting interface for the press is 3/8" round shank, used by Weaver’s Little Wonder as well as Craftool and TandyPro hand presses. I believe Buckle Guy calls it “West Coast”. I measure the shaft at about 3/4" long, including the chamfered lip on the bottom.

Interstingly, the SKU sticker on the inventory bag the tool came in is marked “Cntry of Origin: USA”. I suspect Weaver may have contracted with a job shop to machine a batch of these to spec.

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Cool! Know who we reach out to to order one? Just call customer service?

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I just called their main number. I think it was just a keypad menu from there.

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What did you use for a top set? A splitter or the other kind? Also, how wide is the top of the hook? Wondering if these are much bigger than what I use.

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@OldspeedMFG my notes on the 205s, with dimensions, are here: Trendware 205 | shoemaking.wiki

I haven’t gone out and set a hook with the new anvil yet, but when I do, I’ll plan to use a fluted top set for eyelets. To date, I’ve only ever seen companies set the 205 hooks flower-petal-style, even though they never come pre-scored. This even when they rollset the eyelets below.

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have you tested the fluted top set yet? I have a Tandy press that does not have a threaded top set, it just has a set screw and its 3/8th. Do you know where i might be able to buy a top set? it seems like all the ones weaver sells are threaded.

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Milo, welcome!

I don’t personally have a 3/8 press myself, so I don’t know a product to just point you to offhand. But I know that Avetco in LA and Buckleguy in Massachusetts both sell 3/8-shaft tools. Buckleguy calls it “West Coast”. Weaver Leather’s “Little Wonder” press also uses 3/8 shafts, so you might double check with them, as well.

Campbell-Randall in Conroe, Texas imports strangely threaded 1/4-24 tools for Italian presses, but sells a 1/4-24 to 3/8 shaft adapter:

The concern there will be vertical clearance. You’ll want to be sure you have enough space in your press to fit tools, adapters, and materials.

Most importantly, I’d strongly recommend that you call all of these businesses and ask, rather than just rely on their web catalogs. They don’t list all they have for sale online.

My notes on hardware setter tooling interfaces generally live here:

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thanks so much!

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I placed my order! The guy on the phone advised me to buy “Splash Anvil for #104 Rivets” to set them and it has a 3/8th shank so it will fit my press. Thank you for helping me on this, Ive been trying to order these for 7 months lol

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You’re very welcome!

Who did you end up ordering from? Let’s get that written into this forum topic, so folks coming after can find it.

Maybe it was this one from Weaver?

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I can confirm that the splash setter is preferred and almost mandatory when setting these by hand. It is going to take some OOMPH.
Make sure your press is firmly mounted. I am not 100% certain the normal hand presses are going to have enough to set the machined hooks. They are STOUT.
I am using the above Campbell Randal Italian press #3.

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Welcome to the forum!

As a side note, I encourage everybody to be “constructively selfish” here. Don’t hesitate to start new topics that would help or interest you. Don’t hesitate to reply to other’s topics in new directions. Everybody will be glad to see photos and progress logs on your projects, tool acquisitions, and supply sourcing hunts.

If something’s of interest to you, it’ll almost certainly be of interest to others here, too, as well as folks who find the forum through searches and might like to join in. If tangents make topics hard to follow, I can always move replies to their own, new topics.

Can I ask which top setter you’re using in that press? Did you find a fluted setter with their weird 1/4-24 threading in C-R’s catalog?

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Yes I ordered from weaver it was pretty simple, I just asked for the part number on the phone like what you recommended

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I ordered the set from them though I did have to modify my set slightly. Dan offered to match something exactly if I sent him one of the hooks in question but said I was also to modify what they sent as well, at my own risk of ruining it of course.
The set I purchased was TWP-HK5

Much of there stuff is not in the online catalog but if you email and ask they will try to find or get what you need.

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Thanks so much for sharing that. I’ve been using the top set from the same set, though I never modified the anvil.

I have the smaller #2 Italian press. I definitely second your advice to really fix it down.

I like the smooth twisting mechanism for eyelets a lot, but for power, I think a handle pulling straight down makes more sense. I don’t have a link in my notes, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a video from either Frank’s or JK showing they have an arbor press rigged to set hooks.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-arbor-press-59766.html

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I received one of these splash setters for myself and had absolutely no good results, even with the buckle guy 180 press. Ivan bought a couple others from Weaver that appeared to be discontinued or out of production, I tried all of these plus one from Avetco. Bottom Peening Die, #T-1169 – Weaver Leather Supply

The one from Avetco was just a roll style one and appears to have no chance of working. I’m kind of out of loss. I even emailed Weaver about this and they replied “Thank you for reaching out and for providing the detailed measurements. The splash anvil 65‑5453 is designed for tubular rivets with a 9/64" post diameter, while the C‑1567‑SBN 1/2" boot hooks use a larger 3/16" post. Because of this size difference, that anvil will not properly flare or set the hook.

At this time, we do not offer a splash anvil specifically sized for the 3/16" post used on these boot hooks. Many customers setting hooks of this size use a custom‑made anvil, a machined recess, or an alternative setting method compatible with their press.”

I’m considering ordering this for the bottom die https://ebay.us/m/jBkUFp because it appears to have a different design potentially for wider tubular rivets. But at this point, I don’t really know what to do. If anybody has any suggestions for how to set a tubular rivet with a wider stem that would be very much appreciated, I even tried hammering manual style, and could only barely get a dent into these 205 style boot hooks. I’ve sunk a lot of money into this at this point, and I feel frustrated and confused.

If you watch this video from Ohio travel bag it looks like even they can’t set their own eyelets properly because they don’t have the proper tools https://youtu.be/CVSSq-DGqJI?si=HwLuk_WcTVLdCmcU

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Sorry to hear you’ve had trials and travails with this. A lot of us have.

Do I understand that you’re specifically trying to set Trendware 205 / Weaver C-1567 machined brass lace hooks, like those set in PNW logging boots? And you’ve so far found neither a top nor a bottom tool that works in your BG 180° press?

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The main setter part that Weaver just restocked works fine, however all of the bottom setter dies meant to “splash”/“flower” the bottom of the rivet have failed for me because they are meant for a smaller size of tubular rivet with a smaller inner diameter hole, and the beginning of the splash setter is unable to engage with it until it reaches the bottom where the angle is far too shallow to get enough leverage to actually splay it out.

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Sorry, @clark. There’s a bunch of different ways of naming and talking about these things, so it’s hard to get a clear picture just from text. I want to make sure I know what you’re asking before I try to give any pointers or advice. Even basic terms like “bottom” and “top” become false friends, because machines typically set shoe hardware by holding it upside down and driving downward.

Are you trying to set hooks like these?

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Do I correctly understand that you already have a tool for your BG 180 that holds hooks securely upside down under the arbor of the press, like this?

Finally, are you asking where you can find the other tool, which threads into the bottom of the arbor of your BG 180, to split the barrels of the hooks into flower petal-like segments and then fold them over to hold them in place?

FYI, these are often called “eyelet setters”, “top sets”, “eyelet punches”, and “eyelet spreaders” in Shoe World. They’re not sized the same for tubular rivets or Osborne grommets or dressmakers’ eyelets. In the US, they’re usually old USMC sizes. In Europe they’re often sized by Moro’s numbering. China and Japan have their own system.

Especially with the style that’s designed to split into petals—sometimes called a “flowering punch”, as opposed to a “flanging punch”—it often doesn’t hurt, or even helps, to use a punch with a wider diameter than the barrels of the hooks or eyelets. Those of us using Italian presses, for example, often end up using Moro-sized tools for slightly larger eyelets. The points of these tools often come to somewhat conical points.

When setting with a hand-powered press, rather than a motorized machine, lots of makers also hammer the petals down flat as a finishing step, since their presses leave them somewhat dome-shaped. Workers in the factories do the same when the old hook setting machines go down.

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